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Adaptive exchange of capitals in urban water resources management : an approach to sustainability?
Citation:
Shuster, W. AND A. Garmestani. Adaptive exchange of capitals in urban water resources management : an approach to sustainability? CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 17(6):1393-1400, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
Water availability is increasingly restricted by deficiencies in quality and quantity, water resources management is a central issue in planning for sustainability in the Anthropocene. Adaptive management concepts may contribute to improved, integrated treatment of these matters.
Description:
With water availability increasingly restricted by deficiencies in quality and quantity, water resources management is a central issue in planning for sustainability in the Anthropocene. We first offer a definition of sustainability based on the ease with which capitals (e.g., natural resource, social, cultural, financial, etc.) can be exchanged or substituted, and apply this to urban water resources management. We then examine barriers to the free exchange of capitals that can hinder the realization of sustainable water resources management. Next, we show how these barriers may be recognized and reduced through targeted data collection campaigns that are used to inform adaptation strategies. Finally, we discuss the possibility of internalizing costs previously externalized to the environment (e.g., combined sewer overflows) through the cultivation of green infrastructure as a generator of ecosystem services, and discuss its pertinence to sustaining the contemporary urban water cycle.
